Improperly Distributed Wealth
Inequality is undoubtedly the most socially corrosive aspect of modern living!!!
Excessive affluence is as much a major social problem as that of poverty. Those who have far too little are just as detrimental to the civilized world as those who have far too much. Countries need to have a strong middle class. More countries need to move toward economic egalitarianism so that people have roughly the same income and wealth across the planet.
Granted, greater equality does far more for the people at the bottom of the industrialized world than at the top, but it serves the elite as well. With that in mind, by comparing and contrasting the disparities of different nations, we can see how the vast majority of people are drastically effected by the class to which they belong.
Where you find yourself in relation to others determines the quality of life you have as a result of your status…
The Nordic nations have found ways to minimize the differences in their social classes. This has had profound impacts on the Swedish and the Danish, to name but a few. Whats more, countries like Japan and Finland have the smallest income gaps between the richest and the poorest in their societies, overall. Meanwhile, countries like the United States and Singapore have the largest income gaps!
There is a tremendous social gradient in which the wealthiest also tend to be the healthiest, such that the richest people live the longest, while the poorest die off the fastest.
At the bottom of the social ladder in the developed world, severe income inequality in places like America and Portugal often leads to the worst case scenarios imaginable. In depraved nations like these one finds rampant homelessness, tremendous illiteracy, severe infant mortality, obesity, decreased life expectancy, and lack of social mobility. These countries also have the highest rates of violent crime and incarceration, among other things.
The stresses associated with social evaluative judgements within a nation effect every aspect of an individual’s life as a citizen!!!
